


Worry Doll

by Truthfully



Series: Elsanna Advent Calendar 2016 [14]
Category: Frozen - Fandom
Genre: Day 15, Day 16, Doll!Anna, F/F, Worry Doll, transformed into real Anna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-09-14 01:03:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9149899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truthfully/pseuds/Truthfully
Summary: A worry doll. A little doll that the child could tell all of her fears and secrets. A confidant for Elsa, who had no friends her age.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Day 15 and 16 were parts to each other.

As a child Elsa had always been anxious and shy. Almost painfully so. Meeting new people had been what she dreaded most, alongside heights. At three years of age her mother had found just the thing. A tradition that had been suggested by one of her maids.

A worry doll. A little doll that the child could tell all of her fears and secrets. A confidant for a child that had none her age. So a doll was found and chosen by the Queen. The doll was dressed finely in green and had the brightest red hair done up in pigtails. Her button eyes were teal and she even had freckles. The gift came in winter, and Elsa fell in love with her doll right away.

After a little deliberation between Elsa and her mother the Queen, the doll was christened Anna. From then on, where so ever Elsa went, so did Anna.

Every little worry and woe was shared with the cherished doll. Even the meeting of strangers like the ambassadors or her new teachers they weathered together. Formal dinners had the doll hidden under her chair as Elsa bravely finished her veggies like a good girl. They even spent many a sleepover in tidy pillow forts made with what had to be all the pillows in the castle.

When Elsa turned eight, she had the joy of informing Anna that there was to be a new family member. As the royals of Arendelle had been blessed with the announcement of her mother’s pregnancy by the royal physician. In eight months’ time, Elsa would have a brother or, even better, a sister to play with. But of course she would never do away with Anna. Rather they would all play together.

It was not to be.

Two months before the birth there was an accident. There was pain and her mother miscarried. A long painful week of being ignored that ended in her father sadly telling her that God had taken her unborn sibling with him to heaven. Despite what all the stories said, there was no amount of wishing and magic that would undo it.

There was no such thing as magic or miracles. Life went on and together with her parents she grieved the little dear’s passing. So Elsa resolved by age nine to put away her childish things. Which, sadly, included a little loyal doll with teal button eyes.

This was only proven further when in ten years she lost her parents. In her grief she sealed herself away in the castle. Throwing all of her attention and thought into learning to be a good queen. To give her people everything they needed and to be as good a ruler as her parents before her. In her grief she ignored her own worries, her own fears.

And so three years passed, and it was the night before the coronation. On that night she missed her parents more than ever. Wishing they were there; for advice, for comfort. Hundreds of people were coming to the event, and all of them would be watching her, the main event. Worse, most of them would be strangers and the representatives of other nations. What if she made some mistake?

Her fear held her so that she hid as night came on. She needed the solitude to pull herself back together, to settle her nerves. With all of the servants hard at work throughout the castle she eventually sought out that solitude in the depths of the attic. There she found herself hidden and safe from curious prying eyes.

It was dim and there was enough dust to choke on, but for all that it was secluded. There was little chance of a servant coming up here for any reason and so she tolerated it. In the dark she found the only glass window, bright with moonlight, and sat beneath it. By that light, scant as it was, she managed to see something she was shocked to find. A portrait of her dear mother and father.

It had come to pass that she had stopped looking into the various portraits downstairs. Years of grief had her memorize where each and every single one was. It hurt to look upon them. It hurt to see smiles she would never see in person again. Faces done in paint did nothing to capture their voices, their warm hugs and the love they had for their daughter.

Downstairs she was soon to be the crowned Queen of Arendelle. But here in the dark, with an already heavy heart she could do naught but allow herself to sit and cry like she had lost them all over again.

For some reason she felt the need to speak. In that place she leaned against a box and gave into her sorrow. Letting all of her worries and even her hopes out. The fears that shook her down to her very core. And she prayed, she prayed that her words would find their way to heaven with each fear and hope, with the deepest secrets she had never told them in life. Everything she hadn’t said and the words she wished she had said more often.

Unknown to the soon-to-be Queen, the box she leaned against as she spilled her soul held a very special doll. Still loyal and listening to each and every word.


	2. Anna Doll

Anna was a doll. She was made of cloth and stuffing and for all that she had recently gotten a mind, she hadn’t had much chance to do anything with it but think. Still, she knew she loved warm hugs and loved people. From little Elsa to the tall King that took his time to treat her as a valued guest at his daughter’s tea parties. Wow, memories. She had those apparently.

She tried to move and found she could, but it was strange. She felt… taller? Wider? Like somebody had put more stuffing in while stretching out her felt. Which was weird. Also, it was really dark in the box and cramped and she really didn’t like it. Not after thirteen years of it.

So she did something she had always wanted to do, well at least she would have wanted if she could have wanted anything, she opened the box and stepped out of it. The outside of the box wasn’t much better. It was dusty for one. Another she couldn’t see much beyond what sunlight came in through the window. But it wasn’t as dark and cramped as her box, that was for sure!

Now what? She hadn’t ever done anything by herself before. It had always been the adventures and whims of Elsa… Well why not find Elsa and ask her? It worked out well in the past and surely it would be just as well in the future to continue on that way.

If she ignored that Elsa was the one who had originally put her in the box. But surely she had a good reason? She remembered something about a sibling! Why, she didn’t mind being put away if it meant that Elsa had a friend.

Anna dusted herself off, taking care to get all of the little specks off. She would prefer to avoid a washing, it was bound to be twice as horrible with as much extra felt she had now. Still risks had to be taken and there was an awful lot of dust in the unfamiliar room.

It took her an hour or two to find her way out of the attic, but after another dusting she was ready to search out her person. 

Anna decided very quickly that she liked moving, running best of all. The sheer exhilaration of moving under her own power was heady. The feel of her stuffing, which had changed quite dramatically it seemed, made it that much more interesting. It was only compounded by the ability of choice; to be able to turn down this hall or that one, even to just stop and gawk at a painting. It was nice and her most favorite of things now that she was real.

Sort of, she wasn’t certain if she was just an extraordinary doll now or a real person. It seemed a bit presumptuous of herself to assume so. But if she was, choice was her favorite part of being a person.

“Oh miss! Careful they are going to be waxing the floors!” Anna stopped, looking and recognizing the woman. Gerda! She quickly took a look at herself, but no she was both clean and whole; there was no need for stitching or washing. Which meant she could focus on her warning. But could she talk? She hadn’t tried yet, but it was another thing that she had been looking forward to! She had all sorts of questions and thoughts filling her new thinking head that she wanted to voice. So she took a breath, and spoke.

“Sorry! I didn’t notice.” And she should have, not having the excuse of button eyes to be so unperceptive. Anna looked and saw that there was waxing being done. Some of the younger maids were carefully working at the floor with wax and rags, looking relieved that she had been stopped.

“All’s well that ends well.” Gerda dusted her hands off as she tilted her head. The woman looked familiar and Gerda tried placing the name as she asked another question. “The ball isn’t for hours yet.”

“It isn’t? Is Elsa going to be at the ball?”

“Queen Elsa? Why yes, of course.”

“Do you mind if I wait here with you? I don’t want to get in the way, and I think I’m the type that would get into a mess, besides I have so many questions!”

Gerda looked at the maids, the eldest shrugging. So long as she did avoid getting in the way it wasn’t like they could just command her to leave them alone. Her clothes pegged her as a noble’s get, even if her attitude was off by leagues. Better safe than sorry.

“You may, would you like a chair?”

“You may have it Gerda, I’m fine with the banister.” Anna jumped up, placing her rear on the banister and balancing. It felt weird, being able to balance but since it meant she didn’t go toppling off like she had the last time she had been on it she didn’t mind it one bit.

Gerda and the maids found Anna to be a polite, if odd, conversationalist. She had so many questions like she had said. There was no subject she wasn’t interested in hearing and for all that she talked and rambled she still listened, going so far as to manage to get even the shyest of the maids to speak. She was no trouble, staying on the banister and making the work seem to go that much faster.

The bell tolled the hour, letting the lot of them know that two hours had past and the work was done

“Do you know where the ballroom is miss?”

“I do remember!” Anna smiled, as if she wouldn’t remember the ballroom! They had gotten in trouble for sudsing up the tiles and skating everywhere. Such fun! Maybe they could do it again but this time avoid the trouble and subsequent grounding.

“Then be on your way unless you want to be late.”

“See you later, Gerda!” Anna waved vigorously before rushing down the hall. Careful to avoid the maid's work.

“Hopefully you as well, Miss Anna.”


	3. Part 2

The ballroom was easy to find after that. While she had missed the opening of the party there were still guests that lead the way. Even if there were already a fair number of guests already there. The sounds of music and voices was much more exciting then she could have imagined. Even better then that one birthday party Elsa had managed to sneak her to.

It was going to be grand, actually getting to go as a guest herself for once. 

She entered the ballroom from a side door, unannounced but falling almost naturally into the swing of things. After years of watching the world she figured out how to behave rather quickly. Even better she got to try chocolate, well taste it. Bless the kind gentleman who had gotten her the plate of food. 

And dancing! How she loved it. She couldn’t do it nearly as well, but she found a partner that forgave her for stepping on his toes.

Then Anna saw Elsa and the world seemed to stop for just one infinite moment. Her friend had grown up and she was even more beautiful then she remembered. There was only one thing missing; a smile.

Anna worked her way through the crowd, managing to find her way to the dais. Before she could open her mouth to speak she was silenced with a look. 

“You are?”

“I-it’s me, Anna.” The word came out as a squeak, and an eyebrow was raised. Suddenly Anna didn’t want to be real anymore. The look she got as a person was different from the love she had had as a doll. Her heart hurt a little as she felt the sheer amount of disdain from this woman.

“I know of no Anna.”

“You promised.”

“Did I? And what did I promise? Gold, riches?”

“No. That you would never forget me.” Anna wanted to pull away, but she couldn’t move. What with the people staring and Elsa looking at her like that. After thirteen years and she had been forgotten. Elsa really had put her away for good hadn’t she? 

“Kai, I would like to retire. Please close the gates at ten, escort everyone out at 9:30. Oh, and have ‘Anna’ escorted out early.” Fear mingled with the anger that started to roil in her stomach. She didn’t want to go back into the box. It was dark and lonely.

Anna tensed up as she saw Kai come her way. She remembered him now, he was always the one that brought her to Gerda when it came time for stitching and washing; but this time he wasn’t going to bring her back. 

“We always hide the cookies in the vase in the library so if you’re looking for those that’s where they are. Elsa was the one that broke the bust of Sir Galahad and if Gerda is still looking for those curtains we took them to use for a cape. Oh and the helmet in the parlor that has a dent? We did that with her bike. The stampede of chickens was our fault too. Elsa thought she could get out of eating her vegetables if we fed them all to the chickens first.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If I’m getting in trouble you are too. I don’t want to go back into the box in the attic. It’s dark. And very dusty.” The last was added almost as an afterthought. Kai had hesitated at her rambling words, looking from the upstart to his queen. She was frozen, her eyes growing wider and wider as her mouth slowly fell open.

Anna could see when realization dawned, the way her brow shifted from suspicious to shocked. “Anna? The doll?”

“Oh yes, pleased to see you again. But if I’m going back to the box, could you tell Papa and Mama that I said hello? Seeing as I can do it now and all. Do apologize to Gerda, she didn’t know I was supposed to be in the box and told me about the ball, so I apologize for that too.” 

“Anna, Papa is dead.” Anna froze, her words dying as she felt her heart clench. “And so is Mama.”

Those words shocked her into turning from Kai, who had long ago resumed his outward appearance of nonchalance despite the oddity of the conversation he was privy to. Anna’s hand reached out, catching Elsa’s with no concern for station or the fact she was in trouble. 

“No, no.” Anna felt her heart break as tears started to form in the eyes of her beloved person, “And… your sibling?”

Surely her sibling was there for her, ready to help Elsa. But the look she got, the way that tears started to settle in her eyes told her what she needed to know. Anna gently pulled Elsa out of the ballroom, Kai leading the way. Somehow the two of them managed to be led to a sitting room and left to their own devices.

“You never liked crying in front of people, and I know I… might, maybe, count as people now; but could I stay and hug you like I used to do?”

“Please.” 

For all that they were grieving, it was nice to be hugged again and to hug. And deep in her living beating heart she promised she would never leave again. Even if this was all but one night of magic, she wouldn’t ever leave Elsa alone again.


End file.
